#michael peraza

Production cels from the “undead” sequence from The Black Cauldron that were ultimately cut out by demand from newly appointed chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. 12 minutes in total were cut from The Black Cauldron, and the full version of this more graphic “undead” sequence has never been released.

“When they started having screenings for the public at the studio theater to gather their reactions to our rough cut film, I remembered the window at the end of the hallway where Walt would sometimes stand looking out over his studio while checking people’s reaction as they left a screening… I knew that the ‘un-dead’ section would most likely be revolting to some in the audience who would not expect to see a bunch of rotted corpses slowly fermenting… in a Disney animated feature…

“Right on cue, the doors opened and a mom was angrily leaving with her two wailing children in tow. She was followed by another, and soon there was a sizable exodus of crying kids and upset parents fleeing from the theater… Afterwards as the directors and producer met, they didn’t need to read the ARI cards to admit that particular problem and the un-dead sections were quickly cut down and in some cases cut out completely. Unfortunately those simple cuts could not repair the rips in the fabric of the storyline or magically make the film the fantasy epic it should have been.” - Michael Peraza, layout artist on The Black Cauldron

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